LAKELAND, Fla. – No one knows how the move Brandon Inge is making from third base to second base will work out.

But Inge is extremely confident that he will be just fine.

“Not a big deal,” he said. “No, not at all. I played there in high school. I was a second baseman in high school. I know it was a long time ago, but infield is infield. That’s kind of second nature.”

Inge arrived at Joker Marchant Stadium prior to the first full-squad workout Friday morning and spent a few minutes fielding questions from media members before being pulled away for a meeting.

He said he has added weight and is up to 200 pounds, about the same weight he played at in 2006.

Inge said his on-time arrival -- he was the last player with experience in the majors to report to camp -- was planned out so he would not take away from the arrival of newly signed first baseman Prince Fielder.

"This right here," Inge said, gesturing to a crowd of 15 or 20 media members surrounding him, "I didn't want it to be anything
against him. I knew he was coming in. I was just kind of laying low so I could
talk to you guys on my own, get it out separately, not be a distraction to
anyone in there and move on."

Tigers manager Jim Leyland clearly does not want the Inge situation to become a media circus either.

“This is simple,” Leyland said early Friday morning. “If he can play second base and he can hit, that’s good news for us. It’s not that complicated.”

Inge said he approached general manager Dave Dombrowski about the move because he wanted to hear it from the top. He also said he wanted to make sure his request would be "taken seriously." He said he started working on playing second base immediately after meeting with Dombrowski.

"Learning the outfield cuts and the instinctive things, that's why spring
training is perfect for me, because you can get away with stuff in spring
training," he said. "You can learn from your mistakes, so when you go into the season it'll
be second nature. It's not like I'm learning a whole new sport."

Inge is clearly confident in his ability to move to second. Leyland spoke of the challenges facing Inge in his transition.

“There’s so much more to playing second base than third base,” Leyland said. “You’re talking about covering on a steal, covering the hit-and-run, making the double play. Getting over there for the bunt to first base to cover first. There’s more involved there. He’s going to have to get used to all that stuff.”

Leyland said Inge will see the vast majority of his playing time at second base this spring.

“We’re going to get him out there at second base and he’s got to get used to it, the footwork and stuff, making the double play from over there,” Leyland said. “Playing third base for him is like getting up in the morning. I know he can do that.”

Leyland said the Tigers would not have granted Inge’s request to move to second if they thought it no chance to succeed. He was asked what it is that makes him confident that it can work.

“He’s an athletic guy,” Leyland said. “He’s caught ground balls all his life. Some of them might just be a little bit further away.”

Inge was asked what role his contract -- the Tigers owe him $5.5 million for this season and another $500,000 if they want to buy him out of the final year of his contract -- might play in the team's decision to let him try a new position.

"I know that I always try to earn -- especially
what Mr. Ilitch has done for me over the years -- I always try to earn my
paycheck," Inge said. "I think I've shown that I'm going to play hard no matter what.

"I
don't play for the money anyway. I play because I love baseball and I love this
team"